Apparatus for cleaning ships&#39; bottoms



7, 1943. J. G. BRIGHT 2,327,012

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS BOTTOMS Filed March 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheetl Aug. 17, 1943. J. cs. BRIGHT 2,327,012

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING SHIPS BOTTOMS Filed March 18, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 alzumfnlx 4 4 7 Patented Aug. 17, 1943 .7

APPARATUS George B118 BOTTOMS hflllrtarmmaneat SydnenNcw.

Wall. Anskalia App'ncamn Mae-ch18, 1942, Serialhlo. 435.233 wInAustra'lia April 30,1941 c 1:21am. 1(01. na -2 22 Object ot this wasthe pro n 91 simple whereby 'thefimmersed portion of thehull of a shipor other floating vessel may be readily and cleaned, .thus' .to l dwdr#1 933 v ..According to this invention, the cleaning appanatuscoraprisesa buoyant base having clean inc such asstationaryfor rot'atahle banshee,smapers, hr the like 7 mounted thereon.

M z-hauling devices :such as cables or which ueshwkhd e be eentmllablyrelativerto the immersed 'bottam ot a vessel while these-id cleaningelements'are fesoibty .intocontact with said bottom due tethegbuQyan -yof the mentioned base. a

4 in the m xi m: I

Ex. I is aplan' at sweet of e preseenttnvention; M

' Fig.3 is .a seotional aside eleuation ;taken on dineH-in 3 i seminalFig. at he view of a floatin nssel schematically a manner o; using theapparatus subject hereof. The buoyant base consistshof .s i anderassmembers if, j Members 5 are h P QPQM$ wh h b av w. is. e a $114! s? wasdza WW as shown at {I in 3"). or otherwise fixed *to the elevationtaken. an

drums in order to provide anunitary, rigid base tmm' Y i. w

In the illustrated arrangement, the cleaning elements are rotatablecylindrical brushes 8 and 9 having shafts Ill and II which are mountedin bearings l2 on brackets 13 fixed to the base. Shafts l0 and II havesprockets l4 connected by drive chain l5, and shaft Ill carries bevelwheel l6 which meshes bevel pinion l1. Pinion I1 is keyed on shaft l8which is drive-connected (for example by sprockets l9 and chain to thedrive shaft 2| of a compressed air motor indicated by 22. This motor ismounted between the drums 5 on a plate 2i! fixed to the base. The motorhas a compressed air-feeding hose 24, and although during immersion themotor exhaust may bubble into the ambient'water, a hose '25 ispreferably provided to conduct the exhaust air to atmosphere, in orderto ensure against water entering the motor. The motor is of conventionalconstruction except for the inclusion therein of a stumng box ZB-toprevent entrance of water to the motor interior between the drive shaft2| and the motor casing,

Although it is not absolutely essential fender bars or frames 21. arepreferably fixed to the base in order to protect the apparatus againstthe almost inevitable rough usage attendant on. initial launching of theapparatus andzthe emplacement thereof relative to a"-hull' to gbecleaned] y In order to: protect the brush bristles fromundue crushingwhen. they are forcibly thrust against a vessels bottom, apair of skidbars 28 are preferablyprQVideZi fIfh'es e bars extend for practicallythe full length of. the ap paratus, and they are held to the baseh'ygbolts 29 passing through elongate bolt holes '30 in brackets 3lfixedto the base." Theholes Slenahl'e height adjustment of the skidbars'relative to the ibrushes.' "Ihe skid bars are armed with .freelyIevolublefe'n'd rollers "32 to .asslst'the ap paratus to "negotiatebilge-keelsfandgenerally I to prevent scrapinglcontact between theskidbar ends and a .hull .b eing' .treated. :rhe' rollers 3.2 aremounted on pins 33' home in thefskidbars andin brackets .fix'ed to saidbars.v

IHa-ullng devices are connected to the'buoyant assemblage in order thatit' niay'lbe traversed to-and-fro across avess'el'sbottom. These.devices .may he ordinary fiexmle .cableswhich'are shackled'to the base.Where the assemblage in"- cludeslroller-shod skid-bars (as intheillu'strated embodiment) the hauling devices may. be cables .such as35 which for convenience are coupled .36 take v(inlthe pins .33. I

Ttnflthe. .ends. of, the '.skid-}bar's,,2.8 by way of The apparatussubject hereof may be operated from the deck of the vessel to be treatedor from the decks of two punts, barges, or thelike positioned onopposite sides of the vessel to be cleaned.

' Fig. 4 shows an example where the operative deck is the deck of thevessel whereof the bottom is to be cleaned. In use the buoyantassemblage is floated with its cleaning elements upwards alongside thevessel to be treated and. near one end thereof. The cable 35,0n one endof the buoyant base is then looped sufllciently to pass under thevessel. The cables are then hauled upon on one side of the vessel andpayed out on the other side, thereby cleaning a swathe of the vesselsbottom. This (keel-hauling procedure is carried out progressively alongthe full length of the vessel, the swathes being overlapped to ensurecomplete cleaning. The hauling of the cables may be performed manuallyor with the aid of manual or power operated winches as indicated at 31in Fig. 4.

To enable the buoyancy of the buoyant assemblage to be varied to suitdifferent sized vessels to be cleaned (and hence different depths ofimmersion) the members 5 may include at least one plug, such as 38,which normally closes an orifice through which the member may be partlyfilled with water and thus ballasted to any selected degree.

This provision for ballasting is not absolutely essential, but it isdesirable, and where such provision is incorporated it is preferred thatthemembers 5 each have one or more partitions or bulkheads such as 39(Fig. 1) included therein. The bulkheads 29 divide the members 5 intosubcompartments each or some of which may be independently ballasted inorder to keep the ballast weight more or less evenly distributed aboutthe centre of gravity of the unballasted buoyant assemblage. Theillustrated apparatus is pro vided with three ballastingsub-compartments in each member 5. There may, however, be more thanthree or only two of these subacompartments in each of the members 5.

The drawings depict a preferred embodiment of the invention which may beextensively varied without departure from the essence of the invention.For example, the buoyant assemblage may resemble a greatly enlargedrectangular scrubbing brush having a hollow back, or a back.- platecarrying an inflatable bag, or a mass of cork or like material (as thebuoyant base), and a multiplicity of bristles or scraper blades mountedthereon, alternatively the fixed bristles or blades may be replaced by aplurality of rotor brushes or scrapers mounted on spindles in bearingsfixed on the buoyant base. In this latter construction (as in that shownin the drawings) the rotor spindles may be turned manually through,flexible drive means or'by compressed air or other motors, or they aregeared together for operation through a common drive shaft by a singlemotor. The motors (or motor) maybe mounted on the buoyant base, or they(or it) may be mounted on the operative" deck and connected, to therotor spindles by flexible drive members. Where drive motors aremountedon the buoyant assemblage, the type of motor must be selectedwith due regard to the necessity for immersion, or means must beprovided to counteract the ill effects which immersion might give riseto. For example, if an electric motor is used it may be housed within. awater tight casing having suitable leakproot stufllng boxesfor theoutgoing drive shaft; and the current supplying leads must be suitablyencased.

As a further alternative the rotatable brushes such as 8 and 9 may beheight adjustable (in like to the buoyant base or are revoluble thereon.

As a further alternative the cleaning elements maybe hard surfacedrollers which are mounted on the base in like manner to the brushes 8and 9 but without necessity for mechanical drive The cleaning effectresulting from the use of hard rollers would mainly result from theirability .to crush oysters, mussels, barnacles and the like, and therebyeflect considerable dislodgment of such matters from a vessels bottom.In'some cases it may be expedient to employ hardroller cleaning as apreliminary to brush or scraper cleaning. The term"clean lng element asused herein is intended to include'any fixed or movable device such as ahard roller or a brush or a group of bristles or blades or other elementhaving the ability to dislodge accretions from 'a surface when thrustagainst that surface and siniul taneously moved thereacross. The powertransmission'devices herein numbered I4, I 5, and It to 20 may beencased either to prevent access or water thereto or simply to shieldthem from rough usage and fouling by dislodged accretions.

I claim:

Apparatus for cleaning the bottoms of floating vessels consistingessentially of a buoyant base composed of a plurality ot hollow closeddrums and aplurality of cross members to which said drums are fixed,tender frames fixed to said cross members, rotatable brushes mountedabove said drums in bearings fixed on said cross members, a motormounted on said base between said drums, "power 'transmission mechanismalso mounted on said-base and adapted to transmit power from saidrnoto'r to rotate said brushes, height'adjustable skid bars secured "tosaid base in juxtaposition to said brushes,- rollers borne in the endsof said skid-bars and hauling cables 'shackled to the ends of saidskid-bars.

Jon GEORGE BRIGHT.

